Multi-band concurrent multi-channel receiver

ABSTRACT

A system of multiple concurrent receivers is described to process multiple narrow bandwidth wireless signals with arbitrary bandwidth and center frequency separation. These multiple receivers may provide a downconverted signal at the baseband frequency to process signal bandwidth using the lowest power consumption while using fully modular signal processing blocks operating at the low frequency. The concurrent receivers may operate from a single high frequency amplifier and may be derived from a low impedance point to reduce loading and improve scalability. The center frequency and bandwidth of each of the channels as well as phases of each of the channels may be independently reconfigured to achieve scalability, and on-chip test and calibration capability.

BACKGROUND

Electrical receivers are used in a variety of applications. For example,next generation automotive vehicles may have multiple onboard systemsand sensors that send data to a centralized computer module. Such datamay include, for example, pressure data from a tire pressure monitoringsystem, as well as information from entertainment, air conditioning, orother such systems. Such a wireless communication system may benefitfrom a receiver that can receive multiple channels simultaneously. Onechannel may be used to continuously provide data (e.g., tire pressuredata) and another channel may be used more intermittently such as forentertainment or air conditioning control data. Such channels may begenerally unrelated with respect to their input power level, channelraster, modulation, information content, and instantaneous phase.Separation between the center frequencies of the channels may bearbitrarily close or far apart.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a detailed description of various examples, reference will now bemade to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a system in which multiple devices wirelessly communicatesimultaneously over different channels to a common receiver inaccordance with various examples;

FIG. 2 shows an example of a frequency spectrum including two suchchannels in accordance with various examples;

FIG. 3 illustrates the receiver in accordance with various examples;

FIG. 4 shows an example of the front-end architecture for a low noiseamplifier used in the receiver which splits the input signal at a lowimpedance point;

FIG. 5 shows an example of the circuit schematic for a low noiseamplifier used in the receiver which splits the input signal at a lowimpedance point;

FIG. 6 shows an example where the low impedance split point can beimplemented at low frequency (baseband); and

FIG. 7 illustrates a technique for automatic gain control in accordancewith various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claimsto refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art willappreciate, different companies may refer to a component by differentnames. This document does not intend to distinguish between componentsthat differ in name but not function. In the following discussion and inthe claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in anopen-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including,but not limited to . . . .” Also, the term “couple” or “couples” isintended to mean either an indirect or direct wired or wirelessconnection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, thatconnection may be through a direct connection or through an indirectconnection via other devices and connections.

Some multichannel receivers may use a high bandwidth, high resolutionanalog-to-digital converter (ADC) as well as high speed signalprocessing in digital logic to perform signal processing in the back-endafter limited front-end amplification and downconversion. Such systemsunfortunately are characterized by a relatively high level of powerconsumption as they operate over higher bandwidth than that is occupiedby the sum of information content from individual channels. Inaccordance with the disclosed embodiment, however, a low power receiveris disclosed that splits a received signal in a radio frequency (RF)front-end into multiple signal paths that are concurrently active andprocess signals in a narrowband manner by processing a bandwidth thatequals to the sum of the information content of individual channels. Thechannels may be transmission channels and each transmission channel maycontain any one or more of commands, data, control information, andother types of information as desired. The split of the received signalmay occur at a relatively low impedance point (e.g., between about 40and about 100 ohms). By splitting the received signal at a low impedancepoint, the disclosed architecture maximizes bandwidth and reduces thelevel of loading on the signal itself. A low impedance split alsoprovides a current mode interface in the architecture that enhanceslinearity of the signal processing blocks as they process small signalswings. The separate signal paths downstream of the split point areessentially copies of each other and thus fully modular in nature,containing all of the frequency content of the wireless transmittedsignals. That is, each signal path includes multiple channels of data ondifferent carrier frequencies. The frequency of each split signal pathmay be separately downconverted to a different baseband frequency level(the frequency of one of the channels) and converted to the digitaldomain by a relatively low resolution, low speed ADC. These requirementsmay also lead to improvement in the area of the ADC, leading to overalloptimization of area. As a result, the disclosed receiver consumes lesspower than conventional wideband multichannel receivers. By using acombination of frequencies and phases, multiple channels with variablecenter frequency separation can be received and processed. An RFamplifier in the disclosed receivers uses a configurable single-ended ordifferential input and provides the low impedance point to split the RFsignal. Baseband filters also are used that employ bandwidth boostingtechniques to cover the dynamic range of data rates.

The disclosed techniques are applicable to automotive applications, butare applicable as well to other applications. In one example of anautomotive application, a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) usesone channel to continuously transmit (e.g., twice per second) tirepressure data to the receiver. Another channel may operate at adifferent frequency and may be used to transmit other automotive-relateddata such as data from the entertainment system, air conditioning, etc.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system 50 in accordance withvarious embodiments. The system 50 includes one or more monitoringdevices or sensors 80, 82, and 84 which wireless transmit data to areceiver 100 through antennas 90 and 95. Although three monitoringdevices 80, 82, 84 are shown, any number of such devices are possible.The function performed by each such monitoring device can be any of avariety of functions. In the example of FIG. 1, device 80 is a tirepressure monitoring system (TPMS) for an automobile and device 82 is theautomobile's entertainment system which may be used to control music,air conditioning and other functions of the automobile.

Each such device 80-84 may encode data on a carrier signal of aparticular frequency to form a channel. The frequency used by eachdevice 80-84 may be different than the frequency of the other devices.That is, the TPMS 80 may transmit on one frequency, while theentertainment system 82 may transmit on a different frequency. FIG. 2shows an illustrative frequency band usable in connection with thecommunication system 50 of FIG. 1. The various devices 80-84 maycommunicate within a specified frequency band defined betweenfrequencies F1 and F2. In one example, F1 is 312 MHz and F2 is 315 MHz.In this example, therefore, the frequency band for the communicationsystem 50 is from 312 MHz to 315 MHz. In another embodiment, data onthree frequencies may be transmitted with the center frequency used forthe continuous transmission of data (e.g., TPMS data), and frequenciessymmetrically located on either side of the center frequency for otherdata (e.g., non-continuous data).

Within the defined frequency band for use by the communication system50, one or more channels are provided for use by the various devices80-84. Channel A, for example, may be used by device 80, while Channel Bmay be used by device 82. The devices may communicate using theirrespective channels and may do so concurrently. That is, devices 80 and82 may transmit their data through antenna 90 simultaneously over twodifferent frequency channels to receiver 100. Such channels may becompletely unrelated with respect to their input power level, channelraster, modulation, information content, and instantaneous phase.Separation between the center frequencies of the channels may bearbitrarily close or far apart. The amplitude of the signals of ChannelsA and B may be the same (as shown) or different from each other.

The receiver 100 receives the multichannel wireless signal from itsantenna 95 and extracts the various channel data for further processingby an electronic control unit (ECU) 105. The ECU 105 may be a computermodule and contain a processor, memory, and other components to processand respond to data wirelessly received over the various channels fromthe various devices 80-84. The ECU 105 may control one or moreoperational aspects of a vehicle (e.g., automobile). In one example, onechannel of the multichannel wireless signal may contain tire pressuredata which the ECU may use to monitor tire pressure and generate andalert if a tire pressure is below a threshold. Another channel may beused to transmit data of an entertainment system 82 of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 shows an example of an implementation of the receiver 100 inaccordance with various embodiments. In this example, the receiver 100includes a low noise amplifier (LNA) 102, mixers, baseband filters, ADCsand a modem 110. Other components may be included as well, and thearchitecture may be different from the particular architecture shown inFIG. 3. The wirelessly received signal is amplified by the LNA 102 andconverted to differential signals at the output. The mixers are employedin quadrature phases, where a broadband phase shift is obtained from theinput to the output by the use of quadrature signal phases. Suchquadrature signals can be used for polyphase signal processing, forexample, to cancel blockers at a specific frequency of interest.

The received signal is split at a low impedance point within the LNA 102(as detailed below) to produce two pairs of differential signals 103 and104, respectively, as shown. The first differential signal 103 isprocessed via a first signal conditioning circuit 106, and the seconddifferential signal 104 is processed via a second signal conditioningcircuit 108 which is in parallel with the first signal path. The firstsignal conditioning circuit 106 extracts Channel A from I/Q signals 103.The second signal conditioning circuit 108 extracts Channel B from I/Qsignals 104. The extracted signals are extracted at baseband frequencieswhich are substantially lower than their carrier frequencies. Onceextracted, the Channel A I/Q signals and the Channel B I/Q signals areprovided to a modem 110 for further processing, and then on to the ECU105. In some embodiments, the signal can be split to create at leastthree copies of the signal. Two of the copies of the signal are providedto the first and second signal conditioning circuits 106 and 108,respectively, and the system may include at least a third signalconditioning circuit in parallel with the first and second signalconditioning circuits to receive a third copy of the split signal.

Each mixer accepts two signals as inputs—a large signal called the“local oscillator” (LO) and a smaller signal called the “RF signal.” TheLO signals are generated and provided to the mixers by the frequencyphase selector 107. Each mixer multiplies its received RF signal (e.g.,differential signals 103 and 104) by the local oscillator to generate anoutput “IF” signal. The IF signal may carry essentially the sameinformation as the RF signal but at a much lower frequency. Thus, themixers used in the embodiment of FIG. 3 may downconvert the frequency oftheir input RF signals. The mixers thus permit the received signals tobe processed at much lower frequencies than the original Channel A and Bsignal frequencies.

The mixers in the first signal conditioning circuit 106 include MIX1-Ifor the in-phase signal (I) and MIX1-Q for the quadrature signal (Q).For the second signal conditioning circuit 108, two cascaded mixerstages are included as shown. The first mixer stage includes mixersMIX2-I and MIX2-Q for the I and Q signals, respectively. The secondmixer stage includes mixers MIX3-I,Q as shown. The first mixer stage(MIX2-I and MIX2-Q) downconverts the frequency of the input I and Qsignals 104 to a low intermediate frequency, and the second stage ofmixers provides the remainder of the frequency shift such that thebaseband filters (indicated by BBF) and the ADC hardware are identicalto each other and a fully modular baseband design can be utilized. As anexample, two channels present at 312 MHz and 315 MHz in the RF band aredownconverted with an LO frequency of 310 MHz. Thus, the first set ofmixers in the first signal conditioning circuit 106 in the first channelprovide (i.e., MIX1-I/Q) an output signal at 2 MHz, and the first set ofmixers of the second signal conditioning circuit 108 in the secondchannel (i.e., MIX2-I/Q) provide an output at 5 MHz. The second set ofmixers MIX3_I/Q in second channel uses another LO frequency of, forexample, 3 MHz, so the low frequency baseband output from the second setof mixers in the second channel (MIX3-IQ) is also at 2 MHz, and a fullymodular baseband filter and ADC hardware can used, where they alloperate with respect to a 2 MHz bandwidth. In general, the mixers(MIX1-I/Q) of the first signal conditioning circuit 106 are clocked ordriven with a LO signal at the same frequency as the first stage mixers(MIX2-I/Q) of the second signal conditioning circuit 108, and the secondstage mixers of the second signal conditioning circuit are clocked ordriven with an LO signal at a frequency that is synchronously derivedfrom the common frequency used to clock the mixers MIX1-I/Q andMIX2-I/Q.

Each of the first and second signal conditioning circuits 106, 108includes baseband filters (BBF1-I, BBF1-Q, BBF2-I and BBF2-Q) as shown.The BBF1/2-I/Q may be the same hardware in some embodiments. The variousbaseband filters are designed to provide variable gain to thedownconverted signal at the baseband frequency and they may provide widetunability to accommodate a wide variation of the frequency andamplitude of the IF input signal to the filters. The signal processingby the baseband filters is inherently low-pass in nature which meansthat the filters can be used in conjunction with a direct conversion ora low IF architecture. While processing continuous timebandwidth-limited signals at the baseband, direct conversion offersmaximum bandwidth, while low IF offers a response which may be immune toDC impairments. In at least some embodiments, both architectures may beimplemented by adjusting the LO frequency to the downconverting mixers.

After channel filtering by the baseband filters, signal digitization isperformed using the analog-to-digital converters ADC1-I, ADC1-Q, ADC2-Iand ADC2-Q. Such ADCs may utilize the same hardware and achieve lowpower and low area. The digitized results are then provided to a modem110 and through the modem to the ECU 105.

Referring still to FIG. 3, each pair of the differential output signalsof output signals from the LNA 102 (i.e., signals 103 and 104) isprovided to the quadrature mixers. The clock (or LO signal) to eachmixer is generated by a frequency and phase selector 107. The frequencyand phase selector 107 may derive the clock for each mixer from a singlephase lock loop (PLL) system after employing dividers along with dutycycle shaping (25% or 50% depending on the application).

The first stage mixers (MIX2-I/Q) of the second signal conditioningcircuit 108 is clocked or driven with the same LO frequency as themixers MIX1-I/Q of the first signal conditioning circuit 106. The secondstage mixers (MIX3-I/Q) of the lower signal conditioning circuit 108 areclocked or driven with an LO signal of a frequency approximately equalto the magnitude of the difference of the carrier frequencies of the twochannels to be received. This frequency may be derived synchronouslyfrom a higher frequency clock signal. As such, the first signalconditioning circuit 106 may employ single frequency conversion, whilethe second signal conditioning circuit 108 may employ two stage mixingarchitecture.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the receiver similar to that of FIG. 3 butwith a different second signal conditioning circuit. The second signalconditioning circuit (designated as circuit 116 in FIG. 3) provides thesecond stage of mixers (MIX3-I/Q) implemented in the modem 110 asdigital gates in the modem. Implementation of the mixer hardwarecompletely in digital may result in superior phase accuracy for thesignal processing. The baseband filters in the signal conditioningcircuit 116 (BBF2-I/Q) may not be the same hardware as the basebandfilters BBF1-I/Q in the first signal conditioning circuit 106. TheBBF2-I/Q filters may be implemented using biquadratic stages to providefiltering that is either of bandpass or low pass in nature. Hence,bandpass filters constructed using the same structure as the BBF1-I/Qfilters while tapping different points in the filter architecture. TheADCs in both signal conditioning circuits 106, 116 may be same hardwareas was the case for the embodiment of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of the LNA 102. In general, using asingle LNA to drive mixers simultaneously corresponding to two differentreceive channels can lead to loss in the signal power and alsodegradation in sensitivity of both the receive channels compared to thecase where the LNA is driving only mixers in one receive channel at anygiven time. The disclosed LNA 102 overcomes such problems while notincreasing current consumption. LNA 102 includes a capacitivecross-coupled, common gate input differential transistor pair 150. Thisdifferential transistor pair includes transistors M1 and M2 which arecross-coupled via capacitors C1 and C2. Capacitor C1 is connectedbetween the gate of M1 and the source of M2, and similarly, capacitor C2is connected between the gate of M2 and the source of M1. Thedifferential transistor pair 150 can be driven from an antenna in eithera single ended manner without employing a balun or in a differentialmanner if required at nodes NINP and NINM. The capacitive cross couplingused in the common gate differential pair boosts the pair's small signaltransconductance gain while also keeping the gain constant over a widefrequency bandwidth. This gain can be enhanced further by using bulkcross-coupling as shown. The LNA 102 uses the enhanced transconductanceand resulting larger signal current to feed two additional capacitive,cross-coupled common gate output differential transistor pairs 160 and170. Cross-coupled differential transistor pair 160 includes transistorsM3 and M4 and cross-coupling capacitors C3 and C4. Cross-coupleddifferential transistor pair 170 includes transistors M5 and M6 andcross-coupling capacitors C5 and C6.

Point 180 in the LNA 102 represents a relatively low impedance point forthe differential signals, and it is at this low impedance point 180,that the signals are split to be provided to each differentialtransistor pair 160 and 170. More than two splitting points may also beused at the low impedance point so that the architecture may bescalable. The signal split that occurs as a result of simultaneouslyfeeding the two transistor pairs 160, 170 happens at a low impedancepoint providing the advantage that the wide bandwidth of the inputdifferential transistor pair 150 is not compromised. The twodifferential pairs 160, 170 are cascoded on top of the base differentialtransistor pair 150. Differential pairs 160, 170 can be configuredindependently to reuse partly or completely the total DC and signalcurrent consumed by the base differential pair 150. Such configurationof the differential pairs 160, 170 may be performed by adjusting thebias voltage at nodes N1 and N2. As differential transistor pairs 160,170 themselves use capacitive cross-coupling, they are gain-boostedwhich in turn helps each of them to drive mixers of the separate receivechannel (i.e., signal conditioning circuits 106, 108) simultaneouslywithout incurring significant loss in signal power. This configurationalso provides isolation and reduces or eliminates cross-talk between thetwo receive channels.

Each of the two differential transistor pairs 160, 170 use capacitiveelements to function as feedforward signal paths. Transistor pair 160includes capacitive elements C1 and C2, and transistor pair 170 includescapacitive elements C7 and C8. These capacitive elements partiallyfunction as feedforward paths for the signal coming from the basedifferential pair while also acting to suppress the noise generated bythe transistors M3, M4, M5, and M6 across which the capacitive elementsact as shunt elements. This configuration therefore allows the LNA 102to drive the two receive channels without impacting the sensitivity ofeither of the receive channels.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the receiver. In the embodiment ofFIG. 6, the low impedance split point is not internal to the LNA 102,and instead is at point 220 as shown. In this implementation, only oneset of mixers 219 is used at the RF frequency, leading to lower loadingfrom the LO distribution network. The first set of mixers provide themaximum frequency shift to translate the signals to IF frequency, andthe second set of mixers simply process the offset frequency

At least some radio receivers employ Automatic Gain Control (AGC) tocontrol the strength of the received signal such that the stages throughwhich the signal passes do not saturate. In accordance with variousembodiments, a particular AGC scheme is employed at the interfacebetween the LNA 102 and each of the first stage mixers (MIX1-I/Q andMIX2-I/Q). The mixers used in some embodiments may comprise passivemixers. An example is shown in FIG. 7 of a passive mixer which isresistively degenerated by resistors R1 and R2 for the purposes ofproviding improved second order linearity performance. In thedegenerated configuration, a linear resistor is placed in series withthe nonlinear transistor to reduce nonlinearity generated from themixer. However, the resistors R1 and R2 also provide a resistiveimpedance seen in to the mixer, which comprises transistors M11-M14.This property is exploiting for AGC purposes as well. A cascadedcapacitive attenuator 200 including capacitors C10-C26 providesattenuation steps of a fixed ratio in conjunction with the resistiveimpedance provided by R1 and R2. The capacitive attenuator 200 in turnprovides a constant impedance to the LNA 102 irrespective of theattenuation chosen through the various attenuation selection inputs(gmix_maxdB, gmix_m06 dB, gmix_12 dB, gmix_m18 dB, gmix_24 dB, andgmix-m30 dB). The capacitance attenuator 200 can be incorporated into,or subsumed within, the capacitance that is at the output of the LNA 102which is usually tuned for setting the frequency at which the LNA 102 isto operate.

In integrated circuits and systems, built-in self-calibration permitsthe cost of testing to be reduced, power consumption to be reduced, andpermits easy testing anytime during the product's lifetime to enhancerobustness. Such implementations of built-in-self-calibrations requireminimum hardware to be placed in silicon. In the present embodiments,since there are multiple parallel channels to simultaneously receivesignals, one of the channels may be configured to operate as atransmitter, thereby enabling loopback calibration. In anotherembodiment, two channels may be simultaneously activated with respect todifferent LO frequencies and baseband bandwidth so that the hardwarededicated to one receiver may be used to calibrate the main receiver.This implies that during the calibration phase out of N simultaneouschannels, one channel can be configured to receive a reference signal,while the other(s) may be reconfigured to operate as a calibrationreceiver to calibrate an electrical characteristic of the receiver,examples of which may include filter center frequencies, impedances,gains etc.

The above discussion is meant to be illustrative of the principles andvarious embodiments of the present invention. Numerous variations andmodifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once theabove disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the followingclaims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A receiver, comprising: an amplifier configuredto receive a signal wirelessly transmitted to the receiver, the receivedsignal including multiple channels of data on different frequencies, andthe amplifier is configured to split the received signal to providefirst and second copies of the signal, the amplifier including: aninput; first and second outputs; a first differential pair oftransistors having an input coupled to the input of the amplifier; asecond differential pair of transistors having an input coupled to anoutput of the first differential pair, and an output coupled to thefirst output of the amplifier; and a third differential pair oftransistors having an input coupled to an output of the firstdifferential pair, and an output coupled to the second output of theamplifier; the receiver further comprising: a first signal conditioningcircuit configured to receive the first copy of the signal and todownconvert the signal to a first baseband frequency to thereby recovera first transmission channel; and a second signal conditioning circuitconfigured to receive the second copy of the signal and to downconvertthe signal to a second baseband frequency to thereby recover a secondtransmission channel.
 2. The receiver of claim 1, wherein the amplifieris a low noise amplifier.
 3. The receiver of claim 1, wherein theamplifier is configured to split the received signal at a junction pointbetween the output of the first differential pair of transistors andinputs of the second and third differential pairs of transistors.
 4. Thereceiver of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second signalconditioning circuits includes first and second stages of mixers and aplurality of baseband filters, wherein the first stage of mixers areclocked with or driven by a first local oscillator (LO) signal, and thesecond stage of mixers are clocked with or driven by a second LO signal,and wherein the second LO signal is approximately equal to the magnitudeof the difference between two radio frequency carrier frequencies usedby two received channels.
 5. The receiver of claim 4, wherein the firstsignal conditioning circuit includes: a single mixer stage and thesecond signal conditioning circuit includes a pair of cascaded first andsecond mixer stages; wherein a common clock frequency is used to clockthe mixers of the single mixer stage of the first signal conditioningcircuit and the mixers of the first mixer stage of the second signalconditioning circuit; and wherein a clock derived from and having alower frequency than the common clock frequency is used to clock themixers of the second mixer stage of the second signal conditioningcircuit.
 6. The receiver of claim 1, wherein the amplifier comprisesfirst and second transistors, wherein each of the first and secondtransistors includes a drain and a source, the source of each of thefirst and second transistors connected to the gate of the othertransistor via a capacitor, and wherein the sources of the first andsecond transistors provide a low impedance point to split the receivedsignal.
 7. The receiver of claim 1, wherein the amplifier is configuredto split the received signal into at least three copies of the signal,wherein two of the copies are provided to the first and secondconditioning circuits, respectively, and the system includes a thirdsignal conditioning circuit configured to receive a third copy of thesignal.
 8. A system, comprising: an electronic control unit; a wirelessreceiver coupled to the electronic control unit and including: anamplifier configured to receive a multichannel signal and to providefirst and second copies of the multichannel signal; and a plurality ofsignal conditioning circuits coupled to the receiver and coupled inparallel with respect to each other, wherein the first copy of themultichannel signal is provided to one of the signal conditioningcircuits and the second copy of the multichannel signal is provided toanother of the signal conditioning circuits; wherein separate outputchannel signals from the wireless receiver are provided to theelectronic control unit, and wherein the amplifier includes: an input;first and second outputs; a first differential pair of transistorshaving an input coupled to the input of the amplifier; a seconddifferential pair of transistors having an input coupled to an output ofthe first differential pair, and an output coupled to the first outputof the amplifier; and a third differential pair of transistors having aninput coupled to an output of the first differential pair, and an outputcoupled to the second output of the amplifier.
 9. The system of claim 8,wherein the electronic control unit is configured to use a channel ofthe multichannel signal to calibrate an electrical characteristic of thereceiver.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein the plurality of signalconditioning circuits include: a first signal conditioning circuitconfigured to receive the first copy of the multichannel signal and todownconvert the multichannel signal to a first baseband frequency tothereby recover a first transmission channel; and a second signalconditioning circuit configured to receive the second copy of themultichannel signal and to downconvert the multichannel signal to asecond baseband frequency to thereby recover a second transmissionchannel; wherein the first baseband frequency is different than thesecond baseband frequency.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein each ofthe first and second signal conditioning circuits includes one or morestages of mixers and a plurality of baseband filters, wherein the firststage of mixers are clocked with or driven by a first local oscillator(LO) signal, and the second stage of mixers are clocked with or drivenby a second LO signal, and wherein the second LO signal is approximatelyequal to the magnitude of the difference between two radio frequencycarrier frequencies used by two received channels.
 12. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the amplifier is a low noise amplifier.
 13. The systemof claim 8, wherein the amplifier is configured to split the receivedmultichannel signal at a junction point between output of the firstdifferential pair of transistors and inputs of the second and thirddifferential pairs of transistors.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein: afirst signal conditioning circuit includes a single mixer stage and asecond signal conditioning circuit includes a pair of cascaded first andsecond mixer stages; a common clock frequency is used to clock themixers of the single mixer stage of the first signal conditioningcircuit and the mixers of the first mixer stage of the second signalconditioning circuit.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein a clockderived from and having a lower frequency than the common clockfrequency is used to clock the mixers of the second mixer stage of thesecond signal conditioning circuit.
 16. The system of claim 8, whereinthe amplifier comprises first and second transistors, wherein each ofthe first and second transistors includes a drain and a source, thesource of each of the first and second transistors connected to the gateof the other transistor via a capacitor, and wherein the sources of thefirst and second transistors provide a low impedance point to split thereceived signal.
 17. The system of claim 8, wherein the electroniccontrol unit is configured to control an operational aspect of avehicle.
 18. A method, comprising: wirelessly receiving a multichannelsignal; splitting the received multichannel signal to provide first andsecond radio frequency (RF) signals, with an amplifier that includes: aninput; first and second outputs; a first differential pair oftransistors having an input coupled to the input of the amplifier; asecond differential pair of transistors having an input coupled to anoutput of the first differential pair, and an output coupled to thefirst output of the amplifier; and a third differential pair oftransistors having an input coupled to an output of the firstdifferential pair, and an output coupled to the second output of theamplifier; the method further comprising: downconverting the first RFsignal to a first baseband frequency; and downconverting the second RFsignal to a first baseband frequency.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein splitting the received multichannel signal to provide first andsecond RF signals includes splitting received multichannel signal at animpedance point within a wireless receiver that is between about 40 ohmsand 100 ohms.
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein wirelessly receivingthe multichannel signal comprises receiving a signal that includes tirepressure data of a vehicle on a first channel and data of anentertainment system of the vehicle in another channel.